The Hungarian-born Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil, exhibited 33 of her paintings at her One-man Show in the ballroom at Faletti's Hotel in Lahore, British India, held from 21 to 27 November 1937. Four paintings were sold in total; The Little Girl in Blue (1934), The Story (1937), Pink Self-portrait, and the The Vina Player (1937).
At the opening, Punjab's finance minister, Manohar Lal, praised the self-portrait she did not like. Charles Fabri commended the exhibition in general, though criticised the show for being too ornate. The attendance was good. With eight annas per entry, the exhibition made around ₹25 a day from entrance fees alone.
The Hungarian-born Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil exhibited 33 of her paintings, dubbed her "One-man Show", in the ballroom at Faletti's Hotel in Lahore, British India, held from 21 to 27 November 1937. [1] [2] Having checked into Faletti's a week before the opening, she arranged invitations, oversaw plans for lighting, and unpacked her artwork. [3]
The exhibition was opened by Punjab's finance minister, Manohar Lal. [1] Over 150 people attended on that day. [4] Dressed in a gold-bordered sari, twice wrapped covering a brocade blouse, and wearing large Tibetan jewellery, Sher-Gil greeted guests at the entrance. [3] Attendees included Dalip Singh Majithia, Badruddin Tyabji, Diwan Chaman Lall, Justice Bakshi Tek Chand, Lahore Museum's curator K. N. Sitaram, Kanwar Dalip Singh of Kapurthala, and Bhim Sen Sachar. [1] [3] [5] Students of Punjab University attended. [6] The Civil and Military Gazette's art critic Fabri was also present. [7] It was there that Sher-Gil and Fabri first met. [8] The governor, Sir Herbert William Emerson, and Lady Emerson, visited the exhibition for a private viewing on 24 November. [9] [10]
Paintings exhibited included Young Man with Apples (1932), Sleep (1933), A Professional Model (1933), The Little Girl in Blue (1934), Three Girls (1935), The Bride's Toilet (1937), and The Story Teller (1937). [1] The previous year, Sleep and Group of Young Girls had been displayed at the exhibition hall in the Public Gardens, Hyderabad. [11] Hoping that the wealthy art collector, Nawab Salar Jung would purchase them, Sher-Gil was disappointed when after keeping them for several days the Nawab returned them, commenting that he had "no use for these Cubist pictures". [12] Re-exhibited at the November 1937 Lahore show, they did not sell and remained in Sher-Gil's possession. [1]
During her time at Lahore, Sher-Gil painted two commissioned paintings, which she did not approve of and left them unsigned. [6] Two other paintings she completed there were The Red Brick House and a portrait of Helen Chaman Lal. [6]
Four paintings were sold in total. [13] Tyabji later recalled that "the exhibition was well attended", and that Sher-Gil appreciated that he bought The Story Teller. [10] [lower-alpha 1] With the help of Chamanlall, The Little Girl in Blue was sold to Fabri. [10] The Vina Player, Sher-Gil's mother's favourite, was initially not for sale, but then acquired by the Lahore Museum, through the encouragement of Fabri and Sita Ram. [1] [10] The other painting sold was titled Pink Self-portrait. [13] [lower-alpha 2]
At the opening, Manohar Lal praised the self-portrait she did not like. [3] Fabri called the show a "revelation", [2] and "a feast for the eyes". [3] He called her work "essentially modern without being fantastic", while criticising it for being "decorative to the extreme". [3] With eight annas per entry, the exhibition made around ₹25 a day from entrance fees alone. [10] On 24 November 1937, reviews of the exhibition in the Civil and Military Gazette coincided with reviews of the block-buster film Jeevan Prabhat . [10] One newspaper reported of the artwork that "each one seemed to excell the other in art and presentation". [2]
This is a list of the 33 paintings exhibited at Lahore in 1937 as catalogued and titled in the original programme: [1]
Catalogue number | Title | Image | Catalogue price (1937) [1] | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1937 : The Bride's Toilet | ![]() | ₹1,500 | One of Sher-Gil's South Indian trilogy. [14] |
2 | 1937 : Brahmacharis | ₹1,500 | One of Sher-Gil's South Indian trilogy. [14] | |
3 | 1935 : Villagers in Winter | ₹1,500 | Later known as Hill Men. [15] | |
4 | 1935 : Hill Women | ![]() | ₹1,500 | Depicts a girl and three young women. [16] |
5 | 1937 : The Vina Player | ![]() | Not for sale | Sold to the Museum of Lahore. [10] |
6 | Greeting | ₹200 | ||
7 | Woman and Children of Travancore | ₹500 | Vivan Sundaram notes that this painting was later renamed Fruit Vendors, [17] though the exhibition catalogue lists both these as separate paintings (see 22). [1] | |
8 | 1935 : The Man in White | ₹350 | ||
9 | 1935 : Mother India | ₹500 | ||
10 | Head of a Girl | ₹150 | ||
11 | 1935 : Group of Young Girls | ₹700 | Won the Gold Medal at the annual exhibition of the Bombay Art Society in 1937. [18] | |
12 | 1934 : The Little Girl in Blue | ![]() | ₹150 | Bought at the 1937 exhibition by Charles Fabri with the assistance of Diwan Chaman Lall. [10] Fetched ₹18.69 crore, or $2.67 million in 2018, through auction at Sotheby's, Mumbai. [19] [20] [21] |
13 | 1935 : On the Terrace | ₹500 | ||
14 | 1937 : Girl with Pitcher | ₹500 | ||
15 | Study in Green | Not for sale | ||
16 | 1933 : A Professional Model | Not for sale | ||
17 | 1933 : Sleep | ![]() | ₹1,000. | Earlier in 1937, Nawab Salar Jung had initially shown interest in it, though did not buy it. Later, Sher-Gil left it with Chaman Lall to "palm off", but it did not sell. [12] |
18 | Siesta | ₹750 | ||
19 | Landscape | ₹100 | ||
20 | Self-Portrait | Not for sale | ||
21 | My Father | Not for sale | ||
22 | Fruit Vendors | ₹250 | Vivan Sundaram notes that this painting was renamed from Woman and Children of Travancore (see 7), [17] though the exhibition catalogue lists both these as separate paintings. [1] | |
23 | South Indian Peasants going to Market | ₹1,500 | One of Sher-Gil's South Indian trilogy, later known as South Indian Villagers Going to Market. [14] | |
24 | The Girl in Red | ₹500 | ||
25 | 1932 : Young Man with Apples | ![]() | ₹500 | |
26 | Torso | Not for sale | ||
27 | The Dreamer | ₹500 | ||
28 | The Girl with the Glove | ₹400 | ||
29 | Corner of a Studio in Paris | Not for sale | ||
30 | Painting | ₹350 | Shortly after the exhibition, Sher-Gil wrote to Karl Khandalavala that she was sending him (among five paintings), "my fantasy", "which I have called Painting". [1] [13] | |
31 | 1937 : The Story | ₹350 | Bought at the exhibition by Badruddin Tyabji. [10] In 2023 it was sold for Rs 61.8 crore, equivalent to $7.45m. [7] [22] [23] | |
32 | Dressing the Bride | ₹700 | ||
33 | Head | ₹150 | ||
Amrita Sher-Gil was a Hungarian-Indian painter. She has been called "one of the greatest avant-garde women artists of the early 20th century" and a pioneer in modern Indian art. Drawn to painting from an early age, Sher-Gil started formal lessons at the age of eight. She first gained recognition at the age of 19, for her 1932 oil painting Young Girls. Sher-Gil depicted everyday life of the people in her paintings.
Sardar Bahadur Sir Sundar Singh Majithia was a Punjabi landowner and politician.
Three Girls, also known as Group of Young Girls, is a painting by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil. It was painted in 1935 shortly after Sher-Gil returned to India from Europe in 1934. The painting won the Gold Medal at the annual exhibition of the Bombay Art Society in 1937. The painting was part of a batch sent to Nawab Salar Jang of Hyderabad who later rejected them all.
Bride's Toilet is an oil on canvas painting, painted by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil (1913–1941) in 1937.
The Story Teller is a 1937 oil painting on canvas by Hungarian-born Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil (1913–1941). In September 2023 it set a record as the highest-priced Indian artwork sold at auction globally. Blending elements of both Pahari and Parisian influences, the painting depicts a group of village women occupied by ordinary tasks such as chewing betel nut and waving a fan, unconcerned about their surroundings, while a baby cow is seen nosing its way among them. A woman is seated on a traditional bed, engaged in storytelling with the women seated on the floor. Set in an open courtyard, a man stands at the periphery looking across at them.
The Little Girl in Blue is an oil painting on canvas created in India by Hungarian-born Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil in 1934. Under India's Antiquities and Art Treasures Act (1972), the work is a national art treasure and must stay in the country. In 2018, it was auctioned by Sotheby's, Mumbai, fetching US$2.67 million.
Young Girls is an oil on canvas painting created by Amrita Sher-Gil in 1932 in Paris. It was awarded a gold medal at the 1933 Paris Salon and earned Sher-Gil an associate membership of that institution. Under India's Antiquities and Art Treasures Act (1972) it is a national art treasure and is held at the National Gallery of Modern Art at Jaipur House, New Delhi.
Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Majithia (1870–1954) was an Indian aristocrat, scholar of Sanskrit and philosophy, and photographer. He was known as one of the pioneers of photography in India, leaving behind over 3,000 prints, including the hundreds of family portraits and over 80 self portraits staged in a mise-en-scène style.
Self-Portrait as a Tahitian is an oil painting on canvas created in 1934 in Paris by Hungarian-born Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil. It is held in the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, India. Under India's Antiquities and Art Treasures Act (1972) the work is a national art treasure and must stay in India.
Professional Model is an oil on canvas painting by Amrita Sher-Gil. It was created in 1933 in Paris and depicts a nude consumptive. Its vernissage took place in February 1933, the same year that her painting Young Girls earned her the title of associate member of the Paris Salon.
Sleep, also called Indu's Nude or Nude of Indira, is an oil on canvas painting by Amrita Sher-Gil, completed in 1933. It depicts a view from above of Sher-Gil's younger sister Indira, naked and lying on a white sheet at a diagonal, and with one raised arm. Just beneath her is a shawl depicting a dragon, whose body appears to flow in parallel with the flow of her hair and body curves.
Reclining Nude is an oil on canvas painting by Amrita Sher-Gil, completed in 1933 in Budapest. It depicts Sher-Gil's cousin Viola, sister of her husband Victor Egan.
Young Man with Apples, also called Boris with Apples, is an oil painting on canvas created in 1932 by Hungarian-born Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil, when she was living in Paris.
Hill Women is an oil on canvas painting by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil, completed after she painted Hill Men in the winter of 1935 at Simla. Depicting a girl among three young women, it was influenced by the poor surrounding Sher-Gil's home in Simla, India.
The Vina Player (1937) is an oil on canvas painting by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil. It was number five of her 33 paintings displayed at her solo exhibition in the ballroom at Faletti's Hotel in Lahore, British India, held from 21 to 27 November 1937. Sher-Gil's mother's favourite, it was initially not for sale, but then acquired by the Lahore Museum, through the encouragement of art critic Charles Fabri and the then museum's curator K. N. Sitaram.
The Village Scene is an oil on canvas painting depicting Indian village life, completed in 1938 by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil.
Brahmacharis is an oil on canvas painting by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil, completed in May 1937 at Shimla, India. It is one of her large compositions and one of her South Indian trilogy, along with Bride's Toilet and South Indian Villagers Going to Market. In 1937 it was displayed at her Lahore exhibition for a price of ₹1,500.
The Last Unfinished Painting, originally titled On the Roof, is Amrita Sher-Gil's last oil on canvas painting, created from the window of her apartment in Lahore, before her death in December 1941. Her intention was to paint what she could see from her terrace: the milkmen's buffalos that lived near her house. A detailed account of the painting is given in Vivan Sundaram's last unwritten letter, which he dated 1 December 1941. In it is described a mysterious black object that appears in the bottom right corner, though it was erased in a restoration after 1944.
South Indian Villagers going to Market is an oil on canvas painting by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil. It was painted at Sher-Gil's home, The Holme, Shimla, India, around October- November 1937, along with the two smaller compositions The Story Teller and Siesta. It is one of her large compositions and one of her South Indian trilogy, along with Bride's Toilet and Brahmacharis. In 1937 it was displayed at her Lahore exhibition for a price of ₹1,500.